“Bathroom!” I shouted over my shoulder, heading toward Nazai’s office. I continued to drink the contents of my glass. I wasn’t sure what it was, but it helped ease my nerves from being in such an open space.
Once upstairs, Jackson waited outside at the bottom of the stairs with the other guard while I went up into the bathroom.
I sighed in relief as I emptied my bladder. Now I knew what they meant when they said liquor went right through you. After finishing and washing my hands, I went to leave the bathroom but paused when I heard the door to the office open. There was muffled talking and I pressed my ear to the door to hear clearer.
“The information you gave me was invalid, Emmet…again,” Lucas complained.
“I told you it was a long shot, Lucas. I appreciate your faith in me, but at this point you’ve got to accept you’re chasing a ghost,” Emmet said.
“She’s out there; I know she is. Your job, like literal job, is to find people, yet you can’t locate one girl!” Lucas raised his voice.
“It’s been fifteen years, Lucas. I’m good but I’m not a damn miracle worker.”
There was some mumbling I couldn’t make out. “I need you to look harder, Emmet. I’m not giving up until I have answers.” I had so many questions about who and what they were talking about. Nazai’s brothers were still pretty much a mystery to me, each like a puzzle that needed to be pieced together correctly.
I reached for the doorknob and pushed the door open. Both stopped talking and darted their eyes to me. Not bothering to say anything to them, I walked to the glass windows. The two didn’t stick around long, giving me the office to myself, which was fine with me. My focus went to the stage where a large birthday cake was now being wheeled out. My teeth sank into my bottom lip, when a topless girl jumped out of the cake, shaking her breasts in my husband’s face. My jaw clenched. My pocket knife was tucked in the strapless bra I wore under my dress. I itched to grab it and take it across the girl’s neck.
The crowd loved it all, cheering and clapping. I didn’t know this Ian guy but he had just made my list.
Frustration filled me as once again I was consumed with jealousy I didn’t ask for. I spun around and looked around the office. My eyes dropped to his desk. I walked over and pulled on the drawers. They were all locked besides one. A medium-sized bottle of liquor was inside.
Pulling it out, I saw it was barely used. I uncapped it and walked back to the glass mirror. My eyes narrowed as I watched the girl climb out of the cake and strut to Nazai. She grabbed his knees and leaned over. Her breasts shook in his face. The green eyed monster grew inside of me. I took a drink of the bottle, my face balling up as the warm liquid hit my tongue and burned going down.
There was a knock on the door but my eyes stayed locked on the stage. I didn’t know what pissed me off more, the girl in front of my husband or the fact that I was jealous about the girl.
“Everything okay, Mrs. Tavarez?” Jackson said just as Nazai leaned up and whispered something in the girl’s ear. My grip on the bottle grew tighter. A shocked expression formed on the girl’s face but she quickly replaced it with a smile and nodded, pulling up.
When the girl walked off stage, I took one last drink of the bottle then turned around, placing it on the desk, not bothering to close it.
“I’m good.” My words were slurred. My body suddenly felt too hot and my head was fuzzy as I pushed past him and headed down the steps. Stopping halfway, I leaned on the wall and closed my eyes, taking a couple of breaths. Sweat pooled on the back of my neck.
“Mrs. Tavarez.”
“I’m fine!” My eyes snapped open and I continued down the steps. Luke led the way through the crowd while Jackson trailed the rear. Just as we got to the section, I was pulled on. Before I could think, I went into my breast and grabbed my knife, flicking it out.
“Whoa there, Wildfire. It’s just me.” Nazai chuckled.
I blinked a couple of times, coming back into reality. My eyes narrowed and I didn’t bother lowering my knife. The tip pressed against his neck. His grin grew.
“You think I won’t do it?” I asked as my blood pumped wildly inside me.
His hand went to my wrist. I thought he was about to push it away but instead he pulled it closer with a drunken grin on his face. “Actually, I think the opposite.” The knife punctured his skin.
“You two need to take this up to your office,” River said, approaching us. We were right outside the section but I didn’t care. I didn’t care that there were loads of people around or half naked women dancing and serving drinks. Right now I had tunnel vision.
“Did you like that girl all over you?” I stepped closer, my voice menacing.
“If I did, I wouldn’t have dismissed her.” My knife dug deeper.
Blood trickled down his neck, coating the blade. The music around us seemed to suddenly disappear. My breathing sped up as adrenaline rushed through my veins.
Someone bumped into me from behind, causing me to stumble. My eyes bucked when the blade cut deeper into Nazai’s neck than I intended. I always resharpened my knives after I used them so the steel blade easily sliced through his skin.
“What the hell did you do?” Lucas shouted. My hand was slapped down. My still wide eyes were now locked on the blood coming from Nazai’s neck.
“Shit. Put pressure on it. Get me some napkins.”
I was so focused on Nazai bleeding that I didn’t notice someone approaching me from behind and a blade was now pressed against my neck.
